Presently, it is known to use caps on exposed ends of individual reinforcement bars used in the construction industry. These caps are designed to prevent the various injuries that can occur through accidental contact with the exposed ends of the reinforcement bars. These caps are generally successful in preventing assorted minor injuries that can arise through contact with the exposed ends of reinforcement bars. More serious injuries which can occur by forceful impacts with the exposed ends of reinforcement bars may not be adequately addressed by the caps, such as when a worker at a construction site falls from an elevated work platform onto the cap covering the exposed end of a reinforcement bar. Workers who fall onto these reinforcement bars having caps thereon are still at a serious risk of being impaled. This risk is aggravated by the fact that oftentimes these workers wear tool belts which can carry heavy tools further adding to the impact force with which a falling worker hits a cap covering the exposed end of a reinforcement bar.
Generally, conventional protective caps are formed from material which is of sufficient impact strength to prevent minor injuries. Typically, the protective caps are formed from cushion-type and/or plastic materials. However, when subject to extreme forces as when a falling worker contacts an exposed end of a reinforcement bar, these materials may be subject to failure. Hence, there is a need to design protective caps that utilize materials having greater impact resistance than the cushion-type and/or plastic materials previously employed. Another factor which contributes to this potential problem is that conventional safety caps do not employ cap heads having impact areas which sufficiently distribute force upon impact therewith. The surface area of the cap heads may not be of sufficient area to distribute the impact force of a falling worker so as to prevent impalement injuries. Thus, it is desirable to increase this impact receiving area to effectively distribute the force of a falling worker when contacted thereon. While it is known to provide protective caps which meet this criteria, it is also desirable to retrofit caps which do not and are currently in use so that they likewise reduce the risk of impalement injuries.